Bertrand Dawson was born 9th March 1864, he graduated from the Royal London Hospital in 1893 with a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. In 1907 he was appointed doctor to Edward VII, and served George V, Edward VIII and George VI and other members of the royal family. In 1920, he was raised to the peerage as Baron Dawson of Penn, made a K.C.B. in 1926, a privy councillor in 1929, and a viscount in 1936.
Shortly before 1911 he rented Dell Cottage, (now renamed The Chinnery) on Church Road, then a pair of workmen’s cottages, as a country retreat. He converted the cottages to what he described as a ‘library with cottage attached’. Lord Dawson was one of the first London-based commuters. The first transatlantic telephone call ever made was in 1927, from Pennsylvania via a temporary cable from Penn Post Office, School Road, to Lord Dawson. This was in the mistaken belief that, because of his title, he was a descendant of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. The house has since been much altered, although the front elevation retains its sash windows and a particularly graceful door hood. Lord Dawson, who left Penn in 1938, is particularly remembered for his bulletin ‘The King’s life is moving peacefully towards its close’, as George V lay dying. An envious colleague taunted his rival with the disrespectful jingle:
‘Lord Dawson of Penn, Has killed many men So that’s why we sing, God save the King’
Lord Dawson died 7th March 1945, and his funeral was held at Golders Green Crematorium. There is a tablet in Holy Trinity church, Penn Street, which records the resting place of his ashes.
Lord Dawson’s wife, Minnie died 10th May 1972 at Eaton Square, S.W.1, and her funeral was held at Holy Trinity church, Penn Street.
Miles Green, January 2025.
9 January 2003
Editor of The Times,
Sir, The first transatlantic telephone call
You reported yesterday (On this day The Times, January 8, 1927) the conversation between the then Editor of The Times, Geoffrey Dawson, and the proprietor of The New York Times, the day the first transatlantic radio-telephone service.was opened.
The service was actually inaugurated by another Dawson, Lord (Bertrand) Dawson of Penn, George V’s doctor, later famous as the author of the medical bulletin, ‘The king’s life is moving peacefully towards its close’. He was living in Penn in Buckinghamshire in what he described as ‘ library with cottage attached’ and a cable was run out along the road from the village Post Office, Church Road, about quarter of a mile away, to connect him with.Dr Josiah Penniman, the Provost of the University of Pennsylvania.
The reason for this apparently unusual link up was that the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania wished to honour the memory of William Penn the founder and first Proprietor of Pennsylvania by connecting his American city with his English village. There was apparently a mistaken assumption in Pennsylvania that Lord Dawson was a descendant of William Penn. Nor is the Quaker’s connection with the village of Penn as straightforward as was assumed although his first wife was living here before they married and six of his grandchildren are buried beneath the nave of Penn Church.